September 2007 Seattle WA. Started in 1994 behind the energy of one man, John Wurts, Super Supplements (www.supersup.com) is now the leading vitamin and supplement retailer in the Pacific Northwest. A Seattle company, it remains privately owned and there are currently 19 stores in Washington with one more store opening September 1, 2007 and another opening November 1, 2007. The latest store will be opening in Couer d’Alene, Idaho. These well-designed and fully stocked stores offer an extensive selection of vitamins, herbs, homeopathics, and sports nutrition supplements at from 10% to 70% off msrp.
These stores are all about Wurts’ passion for providing helpful supplements to a very loyal and growing customer base. Terri Marello, Director of Operations for Super Supplements, explained that “John’s passion is natural medicine, he is a visionary and we are all following in his wake, it’s an exciting time for us.”
Over the past two and one-half years, Super Supplements has grown to nearly 200 employees and 19 locations. In the past year six of those 19 locations were opened with rousing success. “This all occurred at the same time we were implementing new software across the entire company,” said Marello.
The Challenge:
“We have a very sophisticated discounting structure and we needed a flexible system to handle this sophistication,” explained Marello. There were only five possible contenders who Super Supplements felt could handle the complexity. Nearly all of these systems were Microsoft products and most were not easily customized to the needs of this progressive retailer. The decision was made to work with Microsoft Dynamics NAV (formerly Navision). According to Marello, they are spending less money and getting exactly the customization needed to meet their growth.
The Solution:
From the start of the project, Super Supplements was aware that they needed to integrate Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System (RMS) with Microsoft Dynamics NAV. RMS supports the stores while NAV provides the back office Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution. After some initial difficulties with one vendor, Super Supplements made the decision to work with MicroAccounting Systems, Inc. (MASI) and the customization and implementation is back on schedule and moving forward.
“We have a great relationship with MASI. Victor Diercksen, MASI Senior Implementer, has been instrumental in the process and his vision and capability have been keys to making this process work. He’s a strong business analyst who understands the needs of Super Supplements and he’s able to represent those needs to Paul Berberich, MASI Senior Developer, who then develops what’s needed for successful implementation. This is a great team,” Marello said.
This project has many phases. The first phase involved the retrieval of data from RMS for import into the ERP system. There is an incredible amount of detail in RMS and now all of this detail (sales transactions, transfers, receivings, customer information) gets transferred and posted automatically.
Super Supplements and MASI are currently involved in phase two of the project. Phase two allows purchase orders to be created in the corporate buying department and received at the stores. Inventory analysis and replacement functionality will automatically create purchase orders for vendors based on needs analysis at the store level. These orders will be filled up to several times a week depending on particular stores’ needs. This will free the managers and assistant managers at the store level to spend less timing buying and more time serving customers!
With nearly 54,000 inventory items and over 350 vendors, discounts are always available and passed on to the customer. The primary goal of the new system is to make certain all discounts are passed to the stores and ultimately the customer.
“We have sale items and sale periods that change every month. Microsoft Dynamics NAV is the one system that can change costs and price on a relatively frequent basis as well as provide an accurate picture of cost of goods,” said Marello.
Microsoft Dynamics NAV is updated hourly with information from the stores and this is a significant advantage as many other systems update in a batch mode.
“For anyone managing a multi-location retail channel, this system allows us to manage sites without a physical presence. It’s maximum visibility into procedural compliance. With data flowing up once an hour from the stores we increase greater accountability to our customers,” Marello added.
Additionally, the Sarbanes Oxley Act has most public companies as well as private companies looking at greater standards of internal control. The flexibility and detail provided by Microsoft Dynamics NAV has been well received by the Super Supplements audit team. The new system has addressed all of their concerns and then some.
In the next year, Super Supplements will be occupying a 50,000 square foot distribution center and new corporate office with a training center for consumer-based product education. E-commerce will be implemented and integrated with Microsoft Dynamics NAV; and more stores will be opened. MASI looks forward to supporting Super Supplements in its continued growth and success.